Before the Special Education Referral

"A practical approach to the real problems administrators face when dealing with intervention and referral. The writing is clear and concise, providing examples and solutions to real-world situations. This book belongs in every school administrator′s professional library."—Jack Dennis, PrincipalColumbia Middle School, Berkeley Heights, NJ

Develop an efficient prereferral intervention process that truly benefits students!Prereferral intervention teams can dramatically improve academic achievement for struggling students by providing focused instructional interventions and support before a referral for special education evaluation is needed. This resource presents school leaders with a step-by-step, four-phase model for developing, leading, and evaluating effective prereferral intervention teams.

The author provides numerous reproducible tools that can be used for facilitating implementation and staff training. Featuring a running example that illustrates the model in action, this book shows how school leaders can:

• Establish prereferral intervention teams by assessing school needs, determining the composition of the team, defining team roles, and conducting staff training
• Use prereferral intervention teams to support the Response to Intervention process
• Enhance the collaborative strengths of a professional learning community

Before the Special Education Referral enables educators to apply the practical steps necessary to greatly improve the quality of prereferral intervention programs.